"..."
Then, William automatically filtered out Voldemort's initial fair insults directed at everyone present. It seemed that only his vision wasn't shared with Little Tom, who had replaced his physical body, while the rest of his hearing seemed intact — the situation now seemed quite comprehensible. William had "collaborated" with Voldemort's former self — the Little Tom trapped within him.
And a sixteen-year-old boy is always full of vigor, and their plans are always so audacious.
To gain freedom from Voldemort's grasp, rather than being disposed of like a tool after resurrection, he began to interfere with Voldemort's mind, causing that half-mad old fool to suddenly recall that he had left his subordinates in Azkaban, and simultaneously come up with a way to divert everyone's attention.
In fact, this entire plan was initiated by him seeking out William—being a soul entity, it was quite convenient to communicate through dreams. The only difficulty was to hide from Voldemort — and in hiding from Voldemort, he also had to hide from —
"... Is this why you never told me the truth?"
Freed from the Petrification Curse by William, Harry climbed up from the ground. The first thing he did after getting up was to distance himself from Tom, "Because I am... a horcrux? Voldemort has been watching my mind all along?"
The boy blinked. Upon realizing the truth, all his earlier grievances against William disappeared instantly.
"More or less, perhaps not always, but there would be risks."
William nodded, then patted his chest as if greatly relieved, "Besides, I'm risking your life, betting on it. Fortunately, Dumbledore doesn't know about this; otherwise, he'd definitely kill me..."
"I know."
Dumbledore, descending from above, placed an unconscious Snape he held in his hand onto the ground. His gaze was somewhat complex as he looked at everyone, "... Though I just learned about it too."
"... Riddle."
"Long time no see, Professor."
"Dumbledore! Damn you, old thing! I wish I could eat your... ummm..."
William silenced Voldemort with a charm to prevent him from continuing to taint the atmosphere with his foul words. Then, he stepped aside, seemingly intending to let this long-separated professor and student have a proper reunion —
"... Senior?"
Harry noticed William's action. He blinked somewhat confusedly and instinctively lowered his voice, "Wait, but — that Tom — Moaning Myrtle?"
"Shh—"
William ignored Harry's words but gestured for him to remain silent. He then took out a silver pocket watch from his arms, flipped open the lid, and checked the time.
At this moment, he turned his head and finally remembered Cedric, who had been "lying dead" on the side for almost half an hour.
"!"
William hurriedly waved his wand, using Levitating Spells to extract the armor from the pile of Death Eater corpses.
Meanwhile, Tom spoke up, "So many years have passed, and Professor has changed quite a bit. Previously... hmmm, your beard wasn't this long?" The boy raised his hands in front of him, pretending to stroke his beard. Harry became even more puzzled — he could tell that this guy was just making idle talk.
... So, what's about to happen?
Having just "resolved" a question that had troubled him for months, clearly, another problem has now arisen! Or rather, two problems!
Seeing Cedric sitting up again, the boy instinctively stepped back half a pace.
"Wait, Senior! Is it not too... desecrating to the dead?"
Harry seemed to hesitate in his words. Clearly, perhaps the impact was too great, with too much information; Harry obviously hadn't fully reacted yet. He subconsciously thought William intended to use magic to turn Cedric into an Inferius, especially given that William had just used a Killing Curse to kill over thirty Death Eaters — now it seemed nothing would be surprising for him to do.
"... Ah, do I seem that bad now?"
William looked somewhat hurt. He removed Cedric's helmet, and the boy with a pale face instantly opened his eyes, followed by heavy breathing, "Did, did it work?" Cedric clutched William's arm, instinctively asking.
"Half and half."
William shook his head, quietly signaling Cedric not to speak too much. Then, he turned his gaze to Dumbledore, who had already called him twice from the beginning, "What's wrong? Don't you plan to continue your reunion? After all, how many years has it been since you've met?"
"... The Ministry of Magic is in chaos right now."
Unfortunately, Dumbledore obviously had no time for small talk. He hadn't even exchanged a single word with Tom after calling his name, only staring at him silently for a while before turning back to William.
"I know."
William nodded.
"The entire British Magic Realm is terrified... No, the whole world is terrified. Everyone believes Voldemort has returned, and right now..." the old man said, glancing back at "the innocent-looking" Little Tom, "... how do you plan to deal with him?"
The old man showed no intention of having this conversation in private, seemingly intending to discuss how to handle the person right in front of them.
"... I thought you were planning to enlighten him?"
William paused for a moment, looking curiously at Dumbledore who had picked Snape back up.
"... I'm not that much of a soft-hearted person, William."
Dumbledore shook his head, then continued looking at William, as if waiting for the latter's explanation.
"... Alright."
Finally, William sighed, walking up to Little Tom, "By the way, you haven't prepared yet?" There was a tone of disappointment in his voice, "I've tried to buy you that much time —"
But upon hearing this, Tom suddenly jerked, instinctively raising his hand, with the Purple Fir Wand appearing out of nowhere and pointing at himself. The wand's tip, a grim green light, looked ready to unleash at any moment, "Though our cooperation was pleasant, it's obvious I don't keep my promises..."
With that, Tom sneered, "I'm not that timid and impatient madman. With the existence of horcruxes, I will endure until all of you die. By then, —"
Before finishing his words, Tom directed a long-charged Killing Curse at his own forehead —
Although that kind of suicide was embarrassing, and he didn't know why William had detected his "escape plan," but now, as long as he could free himself from these two, and learn to be as treacherous as Helbo, dig a rat hole to bury himself in, and emerge after a few thousand or hundreds of years — he refused to believe the world would continue having people like William Richard!
But, as already stated, having decided to lay the trap, William wouldn't leave such an obvious flaw.
"Do it, Tom!"
William commanded softly, and the green glow from Tom's wand extinguished. Then, a youthful, slightly excited voice resonated from within Tom's sixteen-year-old body —
"Yes, teacher!"